'Crucial to respect science' on climate change, says councillor

LEADERS in Carmarthenshire pledged to keep cutting the council’s carbon emissions and took a swipe at politicians who denied climate change was happening.

- RICHARD YOULE

The council is on a path to reduce its carbon emissions by around 80% in four key areas by 2030.

It could eliminate the remainder, said a cabinet report, by planting trees and potentially developing solar projects.

The report said carbon emissions generated by heating schools and other council buildings and those produced by fleet mileage, staff business mileage and street lighting were 37% less in 2023-24 than they were in 2016-17.

The drop has been achieved by rolling out energy efficiency measures, cutting business mileage and phasing in electric vehicles among other things.

It’s also the result of a growing proportion of renewable electricity in the national grid.

Cabinet members said this was the right path to go down despite comments made by “populist politicians”.

Carmarthenshire councillors declared a climate emergency in 2019 and agreed that 2016-17 would be the baseline year in terms of measuring emissions.

The target was to reach a “net zero” position by 2030.

Net zero means not adding to existing emissions by reducing those you currently generate and then eliminating the remainder.